AMBER Rudd continues under intense pressure today after angering Tory Brexiteers by suggesting Britain might not rule out staying in the European customs union and faced more Opposition calls to resign over the Windrush scandal.
The embattled Home Secretary told a Westminster lunch for parliamentary journalists, taking place as MPs debated the issue of whether or not Britain should stay in the customs union, that she would “not be drawn” on the issue.
She then said: “We still have a few discussions to be had in a really positive, consensual, easy way amongst some of my Cabinet colleagues in order to arrive at a final position.”
READ MORE: Amber Rudd raises prospect UK could remain in Customs Union
This suggested that, despite Theresa May’s repeated insistence Britain would leave the customs union, the option of staying in was still open and a final decision yet to be made.
Pro-EU political opponents quickly seized on the Home Secretary’s words.
The Liberal Democrats’ Layla Moran said: "Amber Rudd has let the cat out of the bag. The Government at the highest level has no idea what their plan for the customs union really is. They are utterly and completely shambolic.”
Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer, said: "Amber Rudd appears to have let slip that discussions around the Cabinet table about negotiating a customs union with the EU have not in fact concluded.
"If that is so, then the Prime Minister should rethink her approach and listen to the growing chorus of voices in Parliament and in business that believe she has got it wrong on a customs union,” added the Shadow Brexit Secretary.
READ MORE: Amber Rudd faces fresh calls to resign over migrant removal targets
A non-plussed Peter Bone, the arch-Eurosceptic Tory MP, who attended the Westminster lunch, said he "could not understand why Amber Rudd did not support Government policy to leave the Customs Union".
The Wellingborough MP added: "We cannot have the Home Secretary not supporting this key plank of Brexit."
As the row erupted, Ms Rudd took to Twitter to issue a clarification, saying: “Of course, when we leave the EU we will be leaving the customs union. I wasn't going to get into ongoing Cabinet discussions about our future trading relationship."
Later, the Prime Minister’s spokesman stressed how the Secretary of State had “been clear” Britain was leaving the customs union and this was the Government’s view “without ambiguity”.
Ahead of the Commons debate on the customs union the SNP’s Pete Wishart suggested the Government was in thrall to "Brexit nutters" on its backbenches.
During the debate the pro-EU Tory MP Anna Soubry said it seemed "perverse" Britain wanted to "put up a whole load of barriers" to stop access to the "best free trade area" in the world.
Labour former minister Kate Hoey, one of few pro-Brexit MPs present for the debate, suggested MPs should try to unite in wanting a free trade deal rather than a customs union.
MPs approved without a vote the non-binding motion, which called on the Government to include as an objective in Brexit negotiations the option of establishing "an effective customs union" between the UK and EU.
Meanwhile on the Windrush issue, Ms Rudd faced more calls to resign.
During the Westminster lunch she was asked if she had considered resigning or offered her resignation to Mrs May. Conspicuously, the Home Secretary did not answer the question but said: “I’m committed to making sure that I go on and make these changes.”
READ MORE: Amber Rudd will do ‘whatever it takes’ to make Britain’s streets safe
Earlier during an Urgent Question in the Commons, Ms Rudd faced yet more calls to step down amid claims that her department was "out of control" for using removal targets for illegal immigrants.
The Home Secretary said she had never agreed to use such removal targets, adding those used by her department "were not published targets against which performance was assessed".
But her Labour Shadow Diane Abbott told MPs: "When Lord Carrington resigned over the Falklands, he said it was a matter of honour. Isn't it time that the Home Secretary considered her honour and resigned?"
The SNP's Alison Thewliss echoed the call for Ms Rudd to go given the "litany of callous incompetence" in her department.
However, Tory backbencher Sir Nicholas Soames, the former defence minister, said his Conservative colleague had the "total support" of her party in "trying to resolve a very difficult legacy issue" while Yorkshire Tory Philip Davies claimed opposition parties were "out of touch" with working-class communities over immigration.
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